Emma Cunningham - Dublin. (Singer/Songwriter) emma.cunningham@oceanfree.net http://www.emmacunningham.com Skype: ICQ:

Emma Cunningham is a singer songwriter who hails from Dublin, Ireland. Spoon-fed on a diet of rock, folk, country and trad, (she is named after Emmylou Harris) and surrounded by music from her very beginnings, the path she would follow seemed pre-destined! Emma has been involved in music in some shape or form since the age of four. She was signed up for a kids music group in a local school where she was the only girl, and for one afternoon a week she could bang drums, play pipes, whistles, tambourines and harmonicas, and experiment with anything that made a sound from washboards to flower pots. Over the years it was her recorder and piano lessons, her various Bontempi organs, a xylophone, her love of making up stories, writing poems, acting out plays, dressing up and performing that triumphed over all other hobbies. She won her first prize for singing when she was 10 for a duet with her younger sister of the Mamas and Papas song California Dreamin. Her love of all things musical grew and a trip with her parents to see Emmylou Harris in the National Stadium when she was 12 only fuelled her passion. It was her mother who was the first to take up guitar lessons in the house and shared what she had learned after each lesson. Emma was hooked, and by her 15th birthday she had her own guitar! This gave her the freedom to sing and play all the songs she loved as well as enabling her to begin writing her own. Presents and a part time job allowed Emma to add to her already expanding record collection, and diaries, books and school journals were graced by her favourite lyrics. Her school graduation became the public debut for one her self-penned songs. After a short stint at university it became very clear that the only thing worth pursuing in Emmas mind was a career in music. She left with not much of an idea what could be done to achieve this and had no choice but to sign up for the 9 to 5. She collaborated with a few friends on a couple of projects that never made it out of the rehearsal room but gave her a taste for what being in a band was all about as well as replacing acoustic with electric. She also spent a short time playing traditional music in Temple Bar on Sunday afternoons. Her time in the office proved short lived when she got a job in a music shop. This opened a world of musical opportunity. The wealth of music at her finger tips provided many new influences and the new contacts and friends she made set her on the road to regularly performing in Dublin. Her world revolved around (and stills does) everything musical and she learned the art of recording and producing her own sounds. She began seriously writing her own songs and music and had every opportunity to mature as a singer and performer during this time. She also turned her hand to a bit of promotion when she set up her own singer/songwriter nights (Acoustica) which gave new acoustic acts the opportunity to play more than the usual two or three songs afforded to them by open mic / talent nights. Her growing presence on the circuit attracted the attention of Hot Press and lead to invitations to perform on radio shows including 98fm, Anna Livia and Near FM and her song Sometimes being featured on Phantom fm. These days Emma is as enthusiastic and as busy as ever. She is just back from Nashville, Tennessee, where her performances included a much coveted slot at the world famous Bluebird Cafe. She also collaborated with other writers at the Tin Pan South music festival. Since her return Emma has been working on a project with Apollo 18 Productions (visit www.myspace.com/apollo18productions)and singing backing vocals with Dublin band The Yokes (visit www.yokesmusic.com ) You can also see her perform regularly in many of Dublins venues. Live, her set comprises mostly of original material with a few well-chosen cover versions thrown in for fun, you never know what you might hear! She spends her time writing, gigging, recording at home and updating her self-designed and administered website. Apart from this, she loves to read, write and travel where possible, is a student of Film, Literature and Drama, and goes to see as many gigs as she can. She loves hearing anything new! Emma plans to record an album later this year and is currently selecting material for demo...be sure to leave a message on her MySpace page (click here: www.myspace.com/emmacunningham) if you like what you hear!!! Tracks available for download (if any): Sometimes http://www.emmacunningham.com/sumtimes3.MP3 Don't Forget http://www.emmacunningham.com/dontforget01.MP3 http://www. http://www.